Journey's Genesis
by Jkallay
Summary: The first of a Trilogy-spanning multi-fic with some x-over elements planned in the future. Slight AU.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Okay, I'm well aware that I have been absent for about a year, and that my other story hasn't progressed beyond the introduction, but fear not! That will come in due time. Right now, I'm on a massive multi-fic, multi-crossover epic, so this is sort of going to be the focus of my return for now.**

. . .

In 1774, thirteen colonies on the North American continent signed a piece of paper that declared themselves independent of a country on the opposite side of the Atlantic Ocean. Thirty-eight years later, the United Kingdom attempted to regain her colonies in the War of 1812. In the 1860's, during America's Civil War, the UK entertained the idea of siding with the Confederacy, hoping that a divided America would make her easier to reconquer. Only a few decades after that, American and British soldiers sat side by side in amphibious assault vehicles as they landed on the beaches of Normandy. Adversaries they had been, but allies they had become, to fight the same war, to kill the same enemy, to die on the same beach.

In 2157, turians attacked the human colony of Shangxi in what came to be known as the "First Contact War" on Earth, and the "Relay 314 Incident" on Palaven. Regardless of its name, it was a poor first impression of each species on the other and that first impression would pervade diplomatic relations between the two races for the next twenty-five years. Only recently, thanks to the efforts of some forward-thinkers from both races, did turians and humans cooperate. The result was the brainchild of both human and turian engineers and, gifted to the Systems Alliance, was a symbol of both species' tolerance and respect. The fact that the ship was named after the city upon whose beaches Americans and Brits fought and died side-by-side after so many years of animosity was no accident, but a beacon of hope for the future and a candle lit in honor for remembrance of the past.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - March 15th, 2178, 0630 Zulu Time - Edinburgh, Scotland

Master-at-Arms Chief Petty Officer Logan Shepard looked out the window of his 12th floor suite bedroom. He didn't have a city of origin per se, having been born on the dreadnought _SSV Edinburgh_. His family had visited its namesake often enough, however, that he considered the city more of a home than the now retired vessel. Earth was a beautiful planet, and he always found himself returning to this particular corner of the planet even after he had followed both of his parents to the Systems Alliance Navy. He couldn't quite place his reasons for returning; it could be the well-touted Scottish air, the homegrown authentic Scotch, or, more likely, the fact that his two best childhood friends and fellow sailors had grown up and continued to live in the small country.

No matter how long he stared out at the skyline of the ancient city, he still couldn't get his thoughts to form a cohesive path. He had recently been assigned as leader of a division of other Masters-at-Arms under the command of his father, Systems Alliance Marine Corps Colonel John Shepard. The mission was kept top secret on a need-to-know basis, and apparently, MAC Shepard didn't "need-to-know". It unnerved him, to say the least. The scheduled departure from Earth was at 1700 Zulu, so he had plenty of time to get his head together. He sighed, turned back to his bed and stared inquisitively at the nude asari still sleeping in it. His omni-tool flashed, alerting him to a received message. He read it quickly, and immediately moved to wake the asari. At first, he gently tapped her shoulder, but when that did not have the desired effect, he became slightly more violent in his efforts. The asari woke, bleary-eyed, to Logan frantically putting his clothes back on and throwing hers on the bed.

She yawned, "What's going on, hm?"

Logan didn't answer the question immediately, instead issuing some swift commands, "Quick, get dressed. In about...", he made a show of checking his omni-tool for the time, "...seven minutes, you have to be out of this building. Hell, probably off this planet."

The asari was immediately awake and indignant, "I'm sorry, I HAVE to be out of the building? Are you ditching me?"

Shepard paused after slipping a pair of combat fatigues on the lower half of his body, "No, nothing like that." he sighed, "Remember, last night, when I told you that I was Alliance Navy?"

She nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"Well, that was only part of the truth. I'm N7, special forces, and I have made some...enemies. Some very nasty enemies. Red sand cartels, mostly. Long story short, they're coming right here, right now, for me. So, if you want to live, you need to go now." Shepard stared intensely at the asari, silently urging her to hurry up.

Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she realized the gravity of the situation. She stood up and started panicking, rapidly dressing. "So... So, what now?"

Shepard finished dressing and handed the asari a 500 credit chit. "You get to the spaceport, take a flight, any flight, anywhere, but take a flight from there to Illium. I'll meet you there in a month. I'll distract the hitmen, then follow. Now, hurry!"

The asari rushed out of the room half-dressed and passed by a well-dressed, red-headed Scotsman on her way to street level. The Scotsman moved forward, heading directly for Shepard's apartment. The asari heard gunshots as she left the building and she looked up at Shepard's window in time to see Logan's body break through the glass and fall directly onto the sidewalk below. The Scotsman watched from Shepard's bedroom as the asari screamed and ran from the scene, abandoning any pretense of serenity. After the asari had long vanished from view, the Scotsman opened up his omni-tool and pressed a few buttons, causing the shattered window and Logan's body below to flicker and disappear. Once the window was revealed to be unbroken, the Scotsman shut down his omni-tool and remarked to the young man sitting on the bed, "Y'know, Logan, I've always had a flair for the dramatic, but isn't this going a little far, just to drop a one-night stand?"

Logan, who was one hundred percent not dead and one hundred percent not an N7, rubbed the back of his neck as he formulated an answer, "Yeah, I suppose so." he smirked, "I swear, Gavin, this is the last time I'll ask you to do this for me."

Gavin Donnelly chuckled in response, "Right. And have some other poor bastard do it instead? No, best let me do your damn dirty work. Lord knows I've been doing it for the past twenty years."

Logan laughed quietly, "Yeah, right. You, doing dirty work? Wasn't your older brother the one who became an engineer?"

Gavin grinned and pushed Logan playfully, "Kenneth is my older brother by ten minutes, bucko. And who was it who said that I should join him as a grunt on the ground, 'Be masters of the Masters-at-Arms'? So far, you're the only one here with a Chief rank, let alone Master Chief."

"Oh, so Petty Officer 1st Class isn't good enough for you? I guess our next engagement is where the brass will see your true potential and immediately bestow upon you a Star of Terra."

"That's exactly what will happen, thank you for realizing it."

Shepard rolled his eyes as the two of them left his apartment and headed straight for the military spaceport. Gavin gasped as he remembered something, "Oh, that reminds me. According to Commander whats-his-face, from London..."

"Anderson?"

"Yeah, that's him. According to him, and I heard this straight from his secretary's friend's boyfriend's rugby mate, we'll be heading off to Torfan as some sort of retaliation for that... that... The Skyllian Blitz a couple of years ago. Remember that?"

"Remember it? We were called in for the last hour of fighting, there wasn't much to remember aside from the media coverage."

"Right, well, anyway. Alliance Brass said that they found a veritable nest of those batarian pirates resting on the moon of Torfan and, surprise, surprise, we get sent in to destroy it all."

"Fancy. Of course, I'm not going to trust you until I can see proof with my own two-" An elderly Scotsman ran into Shepard, grabbed him by both shoulders and began to closely examine his face. Logan started to mutter a question, "Um, excuse me, sir? What exactly-"

The man interrupted Logan again, "Do you have the time?"

Logan glanced at Gavin, who was barely restraining his laughter, then he reached for his omni-tool to check the time, "It's 8 o'clock AM, sir."

The man nodded, muttered something to himself and released Shepard, "And the date?"

"Uh, 15th of March."

"The year?"

Shepard looked at the man incredulously, "2178... Are you all right, sir?"

The man hit himself in the head with his open palm as he responded, "Yes, yes, I'm quite all right. Just a little early is all. I shall see you later, I'm sure." The man continued running down the street away from the two sailors.

Shepard gaped at the spot where the man used to be, "Yeah, right... see you later..." He turned to Gavin, who finally released a peal of laughter, "What the hell do you think that was?"

Gavin held up a finger, asking Logan to wait for him to get his laughter under control. "No freaking idea. Funny as hell, though, you gotta admit."

"No, I don't! The guy pounced on me, asked me what year it was, and ran off. _Creepy_ as hell is what it was."

"Right, well, maybe we should get to the spaceport. I'm pretty sure we have a shuttle to catch."

 **. . .**

Torfan was a hellhole. The frigate that the joint Marine/Navy contingent had ridden to the moon lay in wreckage all around the LZ. Chief Shepard's current mission was to patrol the immediate vicinity for escape pods to consolidate the survivors into a single fighting force. With him were MA1 Donnelly, MA2 Simpson, and PFC Jenkins. After opening two escape pods and sending the inhabitants back towards the makeshift base camp, Shepard got a call from the Comm Officer, "Chief Shepard, this is Lima Zulu. Come in, over."

"Lima Zulu, Chief Shepard. What's the word? Over."

"Chief Shepard, Lima Zulu. Major's orders, return to base camp. I repeat, Major's orders, return to base camp, over."

"Lima Zulu, Chief Shepard. What about any other survivors? They could still be out there, over."

"Chief Shepard, Lima Zulu. Negative. Orders are clear. Acknowledge, over."

Logan hesitated, and glanced at his squad, all of whom returned the stare. Gavin put forth his opinion, "Chief, it sucks, I know. But, orders are orders. Gotta follow the brass, Logan."

Shepard nodded and sighed, knowing that Gavin was ultimately correct, "Lima Zulu, Chief Shepard. Return to base camp, aye. Over."

"Chief Shepard, Lima Zulu. Orders acknowledged. Lima Zulu out."

Shepard raised his voice to give the order, "All right, men. You heard LZ, we're going back. Keep an eye out, there aren't any scheduled patrols out this far, but who can really predict pirates?"

Luckily, the squad encountered little resistance on its way back. A few batarians that did not survive long under the barrage of Shepard's and Donnelly's Avenger assault rifles. They had arrived to base camp unscathed and Shepard had stormed into the command tent to demand an explanation for the abandonment of fellow sailors to be potentially slaughtered by batarian pirates. When he burst into the tent, he immediately stopped at the tragedy within. Colonel John Shepard's body was lying on the ground, riddled with holes. Communications Specialist Parsons walked in behind him, gestured at the Colonel, and began explaining, "While you were out there, we were raided. Bunch of pirates from the cruiser that took down the _SSV Plock_ landed and started a minor skirmish with the forces here. We had around twenty casualties including... including your father, Chief."

Logan fell to his knees, any semblance of order leaving him immediately. Logically, he knew that either of his parents could be taken from him at any moment, it was really to be expected having both parents in active duty military. But logic got thrown out of the window the moment Colonel John Shepard died. Logan was caught in a feedback loop of "what if"s and "what now"s that he couldn't hear what Specialist Parsons was saying. After what seemed like an eternity had passed, he felt a hand rest on his shoulder and heard a voice through the haze of silent panic, "Logan. Logan, buddy. You gotta shake out of this." Shepard looked up to see Gavin standing over him with a concerned look on his face. "Look, I can't even come close to understanding what you're going through right now, but the XO, Major Kyle, is comatose which leaves you in command. Logan, I hate to do this to you, especially now." Gavin sighed, and crouched down to look directly in Shepard's eyes. "Chief, you need to pull yourself together. There are marines and sailors here that need guidance. There is a band of pirates just 3 klicks north of here that need to die. Focus on that. Take that... that anger and sorrow and who knows what else and channel it into a force of pure will. Direct it at those who killed your father. Do that, and then you can mourn."

After Gavin stopped talking, Logan actually looked at him, breaking out of the loop. He nodded absently, stood up on shaky legs and grasped Gavin's shoulder for support. "Right... Right. You said Kyle was comatose?" he asked as he gathered his thoughts and compartmentalized them, pushing his dead father to the back of his mind. He didn't really pay attention to Parsons' response, knowing that it would be in the affirmative. Instead, he began to formulate a plan and he waited for the CommSpec officer to finish speaking before heading out of the command tent and voicing it in front of the remaining troops. "All right. As it stands, right now, I'm the Interim CO for you ladies. Lucky you, 'cause it looks like we'll be going for a full-on frontal assault." He paused for some ragged cheers and "hooyahs" to ripple through the crowd. "As soon as we take their base, I expect that any remnants will scatter. They're pirates, not Marines, after all. I'm going to leave Donnelly, Parsons, and Simpson here to keep the LZ secure and to maintain a QEC connection with Arcturus. Everyone else, time to move out. Let's go kick ass!"

Logan glanced back at the command tent, then at Donnelly. Gavin nodded at him and held out a clenched fist. Logan tapped it with his own fist and started jogging towards the lead position of the platoon, headed to the pirate's base at a double time.

 **. . .**

February 3rd, 2183, 2253 Zulu Time - Undisclosed Location

In a dark room, on a simple metal table, sat a terminal. In front of the terminal in a simple metal chair sat a lanky young man in a black and blue Alliance SpecOps uniform. The man activated the terminal and ran one of only two programs on the screen. It was a holovid extracted from a security cam on a now defunct pirate base on the moon of Torfan, timestamped March 18th by the Local System Calendar. It portrayed a small, apparently recreational, room with ten or so pirates scattered around the room doing various activities. Not long after the start of the video, the room exploded in chaos. Though no sound was recorded, the SpecOps agent could tell that it had been very loud at the time. The pirates, ultimately, were no match for the invading force that was still offscreen. A few seconds later, a man who needed no identification strode into view followed by several soldiers with their rifles at the ready. Chief Shepard scanned the room quickly, appeared to spot the camera, lifted his rifle and fired a short burst at the lens. The holovid abruptly stopped as static overcame the entire screen. The Agent flinched, closed the program, and opened the other. This was a live feed of a very secret room on Arcturus Station. The room was empty for a good ten minutes, during which the Agent patiently watched the screen, waiting for someone to enter. The first person to open the door was Captain Anderson of the new secret project, the _SSV Normandy_. Rapidly following were Admiral Hackett of the Fifth Fleet and humanity's ambassador to the Citadel, Donnel Udina. After a quick few seconds of pleasantries, Udina started the real conversation.

"I'm sure we all know why we're here, gentlemen. Our last candidate for the Spectres has been dead for almost five years now. It's time to put forth a new nomination. I regret Colonel Shepard's death as much as either of you; I'm sure he would have made a fine first Human Spectre, but more than enough time has passed. If humanity is going to be taken seriously at all, we need someone in the Spectres. We cannot delay this any longer."

Hackett sighed, "You're right, of course. Any ideas?"

Anderson piped up, "How about his son? Fresh out of N-school, Officer's Commission, shaping up to look like an exceptional soldier. Plus, he's got the sentimentality of being related to the last candidate."

Udina frowned thoughtfully, "Hmm. It could work. He performed admirably on Torfan, especially considering the Colonel's death. What were the total casualties on that mission, Admiral?"

"Thirty-six. Twelve in the assault on the base, twenty-one in total including Colonel Shepard when the LZ was attacked, and then Petty Officers Donnelly and Simpson during the pirates' retreat. All in all, it was phenomenally executed. I agree, the Commander is our best choice for this."

Udina shrugged, "He has my backing as well, though it hardly matters at this point. Very well, let's see how Commander Shepard fares."

The three men shook hands, then left the room one-by-one. After they had left, the Agent shut down the feed and turned off the terminal before standing and stretching, loosening kinks caused by sitting still for so long. He ran a hand through his close-cropped brown hair and muttered, "Well. Commander Shepard, eh? Guess I've got to get on the _Normandy_ , somehow." He smirked, anticipating the challenge, and left the room.

 **. . .**

 **A/N: Well, that took longer than expected. A combination of holiday festivities, familial responsibilities, schoolwork, and work-work managed to slow me down substantially for this update, BUT it is out. Just in time for Christmas, too. My gift to the general public, poor as it may be. The rest of the chapters will likely be about this length, maybe more, maybe less. Depends on how long it takes honestly. I just felt that I hadn't touched this in too long and just pounded out the last bit before now.**

 **Constructive criticism is always welcome. Please review, fav, and follow if you like.**

 **See you in whenever,**

 **~JKallay**


End file.
